Time is flying, but are we having fun?
by theIRONIST89
Summary: It seemed that everything in Remus Lupin's life centred around time, schedules and the lunar calendar. It was ironic, really, how time was a tortoise when things got to their most boring and suddenly a hare when there was excitement to be found. cursing
1. Irony sucks

**DISCLAIMER: I solemnly swear on the graves of Lilly and James Potter that I don't own Harry Potter. Shame, really.**

**dot. **

_I've got to escape, to run, to get away._

Six year old Remus Lupin glanced over his shoulder with large, saucer-shaped blue eyes. His legs were tired of running and his lungs felt fit to burst.

_This is just a dream, just a dream. The werewolf isn't real, this _place_ isn't real, it's just-_

**OOMPH.**

Remus hit the ground.

"So small, so young," the beast said in a menacing whisper, advancing upon Remus trembling figure.

_No, no! I've got to run, to hide._

Summoning the last meager ounce of strength in his tiny body, Remus scrambled to the large tree behind him, grabbing desperately at the roots for something that could protect him, _save _him.

The trees parted for a second as Remus looked into the face of his attacker whose features were thrown in sudden sharp relief by the moonlight.

Remus gasped, shaking his head as he pressed himself firmly against the tree, willing it to open up and just swallow him as the werewolf padded menacingly toward him.

_He's not real._

But he was real, his foul stench and wild eyes were surely proof of that. The wolf was very close, too close now, but Remus didn't have the strength or the will to run.

"No, no, please, leave me, leave me," Remus panted, begging; beseeching this _creature_ to spare him. But as he looked into the wild eyes the colour of sap, he knew that mercy would not be present tonight.

The wolf growled, and Remus shut his eyes, waiting for the bite to come.

_Please, God, if you do exist, please. Please don't let it hurt_.

"ARGHHHHHH!"

With a blur of matted grey fur, a triumphant growl and the flash of stained yellow teeth, Remus Lupin became a werewolf.

**dot**

"Moony! Moony, you okay?" Sirius studied Remus curiously, peering at him through narrowed eyes as though he had never seen anything quite like him before.

"Yeah, yeah Remus you look a little… different," James added, scrutinising him. Remus did not meet either of their eyes, instead choosing to look out the window at the waxing moon.

"Tonight's the night, you know. Nine years ago to this day," He maintained his steady gaze at the almost full orb, enthralled by its beauty but equally repulsed.

"The night?" Sirius asked in a confused voice, looking utterly bemused.

"Nine years ago? What- Remus, your birthday's in July," James said, equally as confused.

"The night I became a bloody… a bloody _fucking_ werewolf, you idiots," Remus said calmly and without malice. He shut his eyes momentarily, and it occurred to James, as the moonlight danced across Remus' face; what looked so different about him tonight.

His almost-handsome face was as weary and beaten as ever and he still gave of an air of pride and kindness, but James noticed another emotion.

Tonight, as he celebrated an anniversary of a different sort, Remus looked, for the first time that James had ever seen him, resigned.

**dot**

"They look a bit like flobberworms on crack," Remus said mildly, peering into the barrel of white worms that were gnashing very small, square teeth at him in a slightly disturbing manner.

Sirius looked at Remus. "You alright now, mate?" he asked tentatively, joining him at the barrel. Remus smiled his trademark lopsided half-grin.

"I'm okay now, I suppose. It's just, last night, the memories, you know?" James joined them at the barrel too, and clapped Remus on the back.

"No problem, mate. We're here for you," James smiled and prodded one of the snake-sized worms, which recoiled, slithering into the depths of the barrel of creatures.

Sirius grinned and pulled out his Care of Magical Creatures textbook and began flipping nonchalantly through it.

James goggled at him. "Sirius Black, _the_ Sirius Black is actually picking up a textbook and doing work?" He joked, inducing chuckling from Remus and even a snigger from Sirius himself.

"Shuttup, Prongs," he said, cuffing James on the arm, "I won't be able to sleep tonight if I don't find out what the _hell_ these things really are."

**dot**

"I would like you to translate the content on pages three hundred and eighty-nine and three hundred and ninety for homework. Take special care, some of these symbols are very easy to confuse, so I suggest you use your notes and charts to help you accurately complete the task."

Remus yawned hugely, stretching his arms behind his head as Lilly Evans turned from the seat in front of him to glare profoundly at him. It was a shame, really, that none of the other Marauders took Ancient Runes, as it was such a boring subject that even _Remus_ found himself dozing of from time to time.

But then again, he _had_ chosen to do it.

**BRIIIIIIIING.**

The bell echoed shrilly through the corridors as the fifth year Runes students waited to be dismissed. The professor waved an airy hand and Remus rose from his seat and began putting his books in his bag.

Just as he was about to leave, the professor called him to his desk. Remus approached cautiously, his bag hanging off his right shoulder and a look of utter bewilderment on his face.

"Mr Lupin, will you be taking N. E. W. T level Runes?" the professor asked, not looking up from the paper that she was marking.

Remus gulped. Truth be told, he had absolutely no intention of continuing Runes for any longer than the end of the year, and he was about to say this when the Professor opened her mouth again.

"I didn't think so," here she paused to withdraw a test paper from her desk that Remus recognised as his own from the angular block print and creased corners. "The best students always seem to be the ones who hate this class the most. Off to lunch."

Without another word, the Professor stood from her chair and disappeared to her chambers, leaving a very bewildered Remus clutching his half-yearly Runes test paper.

Remus frowned and cited the red percentage and circle in the right hand corner.

A perfect hundred.

**dot**

**Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.**

It was ironic, really, how time was a tortoise when things got to their most boring and suddenly a hare when there was excitement to be found.

Remus hated irony.

**dot**

"Moony, fancy going to Hogsmeade tonight?" James asked eagerly, pushing his empty plate away from him. Remus shook his head apologetically.

"Sorry, can't. I've got patrol," Remus stabbed his last piece of pheasant and put it in his mouth, pushing his plate away too.

Sirius put on a look of mock-misery. "But who's gonna make sure we get back here when we're stone drunk?" he asked.

Remus chuckled. "Just don't get _too_ drunk tonight… Remember, tomorrow night…" James and Sirius, who had been laughing at Sirius' remark sobered up immediately.

"Don't worry, we won't have _too _much fun without you. And we'll save some energy for tomorrow, won't stay out too late." Sirius said, reaching across the table and patting Remus' forearm.

Remus grinned.

"Great."

**dot**

Remus stood in front of the tapestry of frolicking children on the sixth floor, waiting for Lilly to arrive. It wasn't typical of her to arrive late, but truthfully, Remus was glad.

Lilly was one of those people who you couldn't decide whether you liked or not, because she was so volatile.

She could be kind and relaxed one minute and then pompous and an absolute pain in the arse the next. Regardless of what end of the spectrum she was at, she was an incessant talker, whether she was scolding a poor first year or discussing homework. More often than not, Remus found himself wishing that he could just pause Lilly and leave her that way; that that was the only way to get her to _ever_ shut up.

_Ten past nine_.

Patrol had been due to start at nine, and Remus figured that he had better just get started without her; she knew the rounds and would be able to catch up with him, anyway.

Unfortunately.

Remus glanced once more up the corridor, and, deciding that she was not going to turn up anytime soon, began his rounds. He had barely made it a few metres down the hallway when he heard footsteps behind him.

He turned around to see a Ravenclaw prefect walking down the corridor toward him, looking slightly flustered and annoyed.

"Remus Lupin?" she asked, drawing level with him and meeting his curious gaze.

"The one and only," Remus said with a smile.

"Great. Claire Moore, Ravenclaw prefect. Fifth year," the girl introduced herself as she awkwardly smoothed out a crinkle in her blouse.

"Uh, hi, but where's-"

"Lilly's sick. And I was the only other prefect who wasn't scheduled for a two day radius or didn't have Gobstones club, choral group or Quidditch practice… you get the picture." Claire smiled at him.

"I see. Well, do you want to get started?"

"Of course."

**dot**

"Yeah, so I broke my wrist and all the fingers on one hand, _in one go_. Let me tell you, you are lucky that you aren't a beater," Claire laughed. Her and Remus were now finishing up their rounds; they were on their way to check the library and they were done.

They had passed the time discussing their most horrific injuries, and so far Claire's story of being hit in the wrist by a wayward bludger hit by her teammate was perhaps the most horrifying.

Remus contemplated this for a second as he peered into a niche in the wall.

"Pretty bad. What about… third year. Sirius accidentally pushed me out of a tree. Broke six vertebrae," Remus said.

Claire raised her eyebrows. "Ouch."

"Yeah, he managed to punch me in the nose first. I learnt never to play exploding snap in a tree ever again. Let alone with James and Sirius."

Claire laughed.

"You do realise that sitting in a tree has bad connotations, right?" she teased, her teal eyes dancing with laughter.

"Yeah. Yeah, I do."

**dot**

**Hello my dear readers,**

**I know that this is really quite different to my writing style in **_**I Solemnly Swear The Mischief is Managed**_**, but I felt I needed a bit of a change, I wanted to write something a bit more serious. **

**I will probably keep working on ISSTMIM, just not at the moment, I made a new friend, called writer's block. Ah well, please be patient.**

**If you enjoyed this chapter, please review. Reviews are good, and, really, a motivation to keep writing. So I encourage you to drop me a line or two, letting me know what you thought. And just for the record, the word 'dot' appears to separate scenes, because three asterisks don't appear when published, and the scenes smush and it doesn't make sense. And I can't get separators to work, either. [**

**Over and out.**

**theIRONIST89.**


	2. Don't get hit by the bludger

**DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter isn't mine. Dammit.**

**dot**

_Breathe. In and out, in and out._

"But he's going to be okay, right?" Remus could hear his father's voice, husky and worried. He tried to open his eyes but found that they were heavy and remained shut, filtering white light into his eyes.

"Well, sir, as far as alright goes. He is a werewolf, which isn't categorically _alright_. I remind you, we do offer the option of-"

"I will _not_ do that. I will _not_ kill my own son, you hear? He is a child; _my_ child, werewolf or not! You can't bloody expect me to put him down, like he's some sort of bloody _creature_! Don't even think about it!"

_So it's real. I'm really a werewolf._

Remus could feel the tears in his eyes, and suddenly became aware of the throbbing pain on his lower right leg. Memories of sharp teeth and the smell of decaying flesh occupied his head, and the arguing between his father and the healer became too much. Without warning, he cried.

It was a deluge, as if the floodgates had suddenly been opened and wouldn't shut. His father rushed over to him and took him in his arms, clutching his fragile body to himself as though he would never let go.

"Remus… Remus, my boy. I thought that we'd lost you, I thought…" Remus managed to force his eyes open and ignore the throbbing pain in his leg as he looked around the room.

His eyes searched hungrily for the one person he knew would comfort him, the one person who would make everything alright.

"Mum? Where's mum, dad?"

Remus' father looked stricken as he loosened his hold on Remus' tiny body.

"I'm sorry, son. So sorry."

**dot**

"I must say, Mr Lupin, that this seems to have been a relatively tame full moon," Madam Pomfrey said, holding out the logbook for Remus to sign.

Remus nodded as he signed out of the infirmary, writing the time of departure in the little green box next to his name. It was true, this moon had been a fairly tame one, Remus could feel that the wolf inside him had been melancholy and in no mood to hunt.

"Thanks again, Madame Pomfrey," he said gratefully, heading to the door.

"You're very welcome, Mr Lupin. Very welcome."

**dot**

Something that Remus had learnt over the years was that sleep was something to be cherished. As he spent yet another morning frowning into his pillow, he found himself wishing he was a child again, a young child who had nothing else to do but stay home and sleep.

Alas, this was not the case. It was a Quidditch morning, a dull, grey Sunday morning that would see him and the Gryffindor team out on the pitch exerting themselves with drills and exercises as their captain, Warwick, drove them on relentlessly.

Remus rolled grumpily out of bed and pulled on a pair of track pants, joggers and a fleecy jacket, before crossing the room and prodding James and Sirius awake.

"Up, get up," he said in an agitated tone he reserved specially for Quidditch mornings like these. The reactions from the two were the usual- James swatted at Remus with his eyes shut before climbing out of bed and getting dressed, occasionally rubbing his eyes or yawning.

And Sirius sat bolt upright as soon as Remus touched him, before realising that it was a Quidditch morning and becoming excessively chirpy.

"I'll see you two on the pitch," Remus said, zipping up his jacket and heading off to the cold, unrelenting Quidditch pitch.

**dot**

Quidditch practice was, as usual, slave labour.

Warwick carried out numerous drills and passing exercises, as well as setting up several endurance and agility tests.

"Remind me again what the point of this is?" Sarah Singh, Sirius and Remus' fellow chaser asked as she dodged a bludger. Warwick turned in midair to face her with a cheeky grin.

"Agility, Sarah. The point, you ask? Don't get hit by the bludger."

**dot**

**Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.**

Life was too short. Remus realised. Too short to waste under the govern of schedules and regiments. When had he allowed his life to become so boring and uniform? Why did he spend his time trying to make things constant and steady? Why was he trying not to get hit by the bludger?

He supposed that the only way to have an interesting life that passed at just the right speed was not, as he had previously thought, to duck the bludgers and curb balls sent his way.

No, perhaps the point was to take on challenges, to get hit by the bludger.

**dot**

"Evans! Hey- Evans!" James' voice bounced off the stone steps and walls as he called out to the evasive redhead, who barely paused as she hissed a reply.

"No, Potter." Without turning around she continuing her journey down the stairs, muttering with her friends. James ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

"Damn,' he muttered as Sirius laughed at his misfortune. Then, turning to Remus, he asked, "How was prefect duty with her the other night? You haven't said anything about it, so I take it that she didn't bite your head off this time?"

Remus laughed as they turned the corner. "Nah, I remain with head because she was sick, apparently. I patrolled with Claire Moore, and she's _much-_"

"Nicer? Hotter?" Sirius interjected, taking sudden interest in the conversation at the mention of a pretty girl's name. Remus snorted and James frowned.

"Lilly's nice! She's just a little… uptight," James said, frowning.

Remus shrugged. "Well, I must admit, I did like patrolling with Claire better, she's just more easy to talk to."

"And she's hotter," Sirius said, grinning as he twirled a twig deftly in his right hand.

Remus rolled his eyes.

"Whatever you say, Padfoot."

**dot**

Remus found himself wishing that a large metaphorical bludger would come his way just so that he could jump in front of it.

He also found himself wishing that he didn't have to patrol with Lilly, who for some reason was being very waspish and snappy towards him.

It was too bad, really, that he had patrol with her that very night.

**dot**

"Lilly, all that I'm saying is that maybe you would be less likely to get hexed if you were less intimidating," Remus said, determinedly avoiding Lilly's narrowed eyes.

"Are you saying I'm intimidating? Are you insinuating that-"

"Yes, I'm saying that you are intimidating. And no, I'm not insinuating that you deserved to be hexed," Remus explained calmly as Lilly looked wounded, "I just mean that you don't have to be so hard on people for really little things. That sixth year couple back there- Lilly, it's seven minutes past curfew! Honestly, don't you think that thirty points _each_ is a bit much?"

Lilly looked at him, scandalised. "Remus Lupin, I thought that you took this job _seriously_! Seven minutes past curfew is still a violation, you know!"

Remus fought back a smile. If Lilly wasn't so angry, the situation would have been rather amusing, her docking sixty points from a snogging couple for being out seven minutes past curfew.

"It's not just curfew, Lilly. What about that poor first year on her way to the hospital wing? She was about to _wet_ herself; you were so hard on her. And you didn't even bother to find out _where_ she was going before you scolded her!"

Lilly looked resentful at this, "Well, what do you propose I do?" she asked meekly.

"Maybe just find out all the facts before you go make them want to throw themselves of the astronomy tower," Lilly snorted and Remus frowned slightly, before continuing, "And putting the punishment and the violation in perspective would be good, too. Seriously, two weeks detention for a uniform violation has _got to stop_!"

"Fine," Lilly sighed. "I'm sorry I've been so snappy lately, but between school and the constant heckling from _Potter_, " Lilly looked disgusted at the mere utterance of the name, "I've been so _tired_."

Remus nodded.

"You're telling me."

**dot**

"Remus! Oi, Remus! Bloody- REMUS!" Remus turned around to find the source of the voice amidst the crowd of students hurrying to dinner.

He scanned the sea of cloaks and white shirts until his gaze fell upon Claire, who was leaning against an archway, waving him over.

"See you guys at dinner, I've just got to talk to someone," Remus said to James and Sirius who had been discussing Lilly. James nodded and kept talking, but Sirius turned his head to look at Claire who was still smiling and waving at Remus.

"Have fun with _Claire_," he teased, before turning back to the conversation. Remus shrugged and wove his way through the crowd and over to Claire.

"Hey Remus!" she said cheerfully once he was standing next to her. "Um, listen, are you busy tonight?"

Remus paused for a second, running his schedule through his head. Quidditch practice had been the night before, and as far as he knew, he wasn't expected in detention tonight.

"Uh, no, why?" Claire looked grateful at this and smiled.

"Ben Sloper, he's meant to be patrolling with me tonight. But he's in detention- don't ask," Remus had raised his eyebrows at this, he had always known Ben to be a goody two shoes and wondered what on earth he would have done to get into detention, "and I was wondering if you would mind filling in? I'll understand if you don't want to, I just, y'know, time flies when your having fun…"

Remus grinned. "Of course, love to."

**dot**

**To my dear readers,**

**I know that you exist, even though the reviews say otherwise. About half an hour after posting the previous chapter, it already had thirty something hits. But, alas. No reviews. And so, I find myself asking you to review. Honestly, it won't even take thirty seconds. Possibly more, depending on the length of review in question, but still.**

**PLEASE REVIEW.**

**Tell me what you think.**

**theIRONIST89 .**


	3. Time likes to taunt

**DISCLAIMER: It would, quite unfortunately, be illegal for me to say that I own Harry Potter. Not to mention a blatant lie.**

**dot**

**SLAM.**

"Back now, are you? About bloody time!" Remus could hear the angry voice of his father as it echoed down the hall from the living room and into his bedroom.

**CRASH.**

"I told you that I won't be staying! I'm just getting my things and I'm gone! I won't be coming back!" Remus' heart leapt as he heard his mother's voice; she had not been home for a week since his bite.

"At least say goodbye to the boy, to your son! He's been through enough bloody heartache as is!" his father's voice was barely audible of the sound of smashing crockery and items being thrown haphazardly into suitcases.

There was a sudden silence perforated only by the sound of books and clothes being thrown into bags and suitcases in which Remus contemplated heading to the kitchen to see what all the fuss was about. Just as he rose from his seat, he heard the unmistakeable snap of his mothers crocodile-skin suitcase locking.

"My son? My _son_? As far as I'm concerned, the moment you insulted that Fenrir Greyback, or whoever it was, the moment that _stupid_ child went out and got bitten by one of _your_ people he became _your_ responsibility," Remus' eyes stung with tears- he couldn't believe that this woman who had once been his guardian angel, his protector, could and would say such terriblethings about him. He heard the front door open as his mother spoke for the last time he would remember, and uttered the words that would forever haunt six year old Remus Lupin.

"That _creature_ is no son of mine."

**dot**

"Um, family. Tell me about your family," Claire said, peering behind a large vase on the fourth floor. Remus frowned. This was a topic that he had been hoping would not come up during their little game of Twenty Questions.

"Well, I'm an only child. My dad's a wizard, he works in the Muggle relations part of the Ministry," Remus said, "and my mum, well, she left when I was six, after she… she just got sick of us, I suppose."

Claire turned to look at him with sad eyes. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Things had been rocky for a while, and dad remarried when I was ten. We're much better off now," he said truthfully. He shrugged. "Okay, so you?"

"Oh, yeah, me. Um, so I've got an older brother, William, he graduated last year. He was a Hufflepuff," she added, catching the questioning look on Remus' face, "and I've got both parents, my dad runs an apothecary and my mum writes textbooks." Claire looked hesitant, trailing her fingers along the banister as she continued, "I've also got a twin sister, Meredith. She's a… she's a squib."

**dot**

"So how was your date with _Claire_ last night?" Sirius teased, pulling back the corner of Remus' _Daily Prophet_. Remus ignored the question and stabbed a piece of sausage from James' plate, and ate it.

James feigned an expression of outrage. "Moony! I was going to eat that!" he said loudly, causing a few third years sitting on the bench near him to scoot slightly away.

"Prongs, you and I know perfectly well you weren't going to eat that," he said evenly, turning back to his paper.

This was their Monday morning routine; Remus would read the paper as James and Sirius taunted each other about one thing or another, occasionally plotting pranks and often heckling passing Slytherins. Every once in a while Remus would lean over and steal some food from James' plate which was always piled high with an abundance of fatty, oily foods he had no intention of eating. Today was no different, and, as Remus observed, he quit liked it that way.

**dot**

"Who can tell me the seven distinctive properties of moonstone, for twenty points to their house?" Slughorn asked, beaming around the dungeon at the blank expressions on the student's faces.

Severus Snape rose his hand almost instantly but his expression remained deadpanned and bored as he gazed at Slughorn through his lank curtain of dark hair.

"Trust Snivellus to know all about some bloody potions ingredient," Sirius muttered darkly as he fidgeted with the clasp on his bag.

Remus nodded, only half-listening as Snape monotonously rattled off the last four properties of Moonstone, his eyes fixed on the large hourglass behind Slughorn.

What was wrong with him these days? He was always distracted and a little melancholy; always noticing subtle signs of passing time and resenting the speed at which life progressed.

Remus felt empty, hollow, as though a bit of him had come unstuck and he didn't know how to reattach it.

**dot**

"It turns out that if you mispronounce the Rune for 'anger' while your wand is trained on any inanimate object, it explodes," Remus said lightly, demonstrating said mispronunciation to Lily.

Lily frowned as her handkerchief combusted into charred, airborne pieces. "And how on earth did you discover that?" she whispered, flipping through her book in an attempt to convince the Professor that she was, in fact, doing work.

"Well, do you remember that notebook that you supposedly misplaced last week?" Remus asked, avoiding Lily's gaze by loading his quill with ink.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Yes…?"

"You see, it was purely accidental, I had my wand on the table, and I was grabbing some fresh parchment from behind it, and I must have knocked it, because as I managed to say- incorrectly, obviously- the rune, your notebook, you see… It, well, it exploded," Remus explained sheepishly, scrawling something on his parchment.

"I wondered where it went. I _thought_ that it had just disappeared in midair!" Lily said, gazing at Remus. "So what did you do with the, erm, _remnants_?"

"It had fallen off the table and exploded, you see, so I scooped it up and-" Remus reached into his bag to pull out an ink jar that, instead of holding ink, contained bits of white paper and green cardboard, all of which appeared to be slightly singed.

Lily wordlessly took the jar from him and dropped it into her bag, turning back to her work.

"Sorry," Remus said, noting her annoyed expression.

"Remind me to keep my possessions away from you in our next Runes class," Lily said tonelessly.

"Will do."

**dot**

**Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.**

Sirius, James and Remus stumbled through the passageway, James pressing a finger to his lips in a silent gesture of quiet as the three tiptoed down the corridor.

Remus could hear the large grandfather clock standing at the end of the corner ticking away, taunting him.

'_Time is flying,'_ he thought, _'but are we having fun?'_

**dot**

"So I said, "Really, Snivellus, there's no need to get so touchy! I was merely saying that perhaps if you _washed_ your hair, not to mention your _underpants_- which, as we've seen, are looking very bedraggled, every once in a while, you wouldn't have the nickname "Greasy Git' in the first place!"" Sirius concluded, as he and James roared in laughter as though it was the funniest thing they had ever heard.

"What's the matter, Moony? You're awfully quiet tonight," Sirius said concernedly, studying Remus' expression.

"I'm okay, Padfoot. I was just thinking, maybe you should lay off Snape a little bit," taking in the bewildered expressions on James and Sirius' faces, he continued, "He really can't help it if he was born a slimy git."

'_And I can't help it if I feel sorry for the poor bloke every once in a while.'_

**dot **

Another important thing that Remus had learnt was that wandering the Hogwarts corridors at night accompanied only by the omnipresent thrill of escaping patrolling teachers and prefects was one of the most calming things he had ever known.

There was something oddly soothing about the dusty, dark corridors and hidden niches which seemed to relocate whenever Remus passed them, that drew him back to them.

It was a good way to clear the mind, walking serenely and individually down the dim corridors and up and down the shifting staircases before returning the dormitory and sleeping on an unusually empty mind.

_Yes_, Remus thought, as he ducked behind a wooden plinth to avoid being seen by the Bloody Baron, who was sailing carelessly past, _there's _definitely_ something wrong with me._

**dot**

**BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.**

Remus could hear a muggle alarm clock going off as stuffed his fingers in his ears and tried to cling onto a few more precious moments of sleep.

"C'mon, Moony. Breakfast. Hogsmeade. Pranks to be pulled. Up," Remus growled as he heard James attempting to coax him out of bed.

"Moony, come on!" Sirius joined James at Remus' beside and the two stood staring down at him, "Come on, we'll take you to Honeydukes!"

Remus sat up reluctantly, rubbing the last traces of sleep from his eyes.

"See?" Sirius asked, turning to James. "Told you I'd be able to get him up."

**dot**

Remus loved Honeydukes. Perhaps it was the stifling sugary sweet smell that perpetually hung in the air, or the fact that it was always tightly packed with happy people bustling about that attracted him to the tiny store. He barely had time to muse on this thought as a stream of students came in through the door, all jostling to get to the shelves and into the warmth.

Somehow, he, Sirius and James found themselves carried by the tide of people to a highly coloured stand bearing the words, "_Not So Sweets: Sweets of varying danger providing various levels of amusement and injury'_. Remus smiled, unsurprised, as he saw the looks of undisguised glee and excitement on both Sirius and James' faces as they picked up jars and boxes of this and that, eagerly reading the retina-burning packaging.

"Ah, take a look at these, Padfoot! Prickly Pasties! They look like miniature Pumpkin Pasties, but as soon as you swallow them they sprout these little prickles that go at your stomach like a little tumbleweed!" James shook the purple box in Sirius' face.

"Impressive, we should give a pack of those to Snape," Sirius replied as he rummaged through a basket of rainbow coloured tins. "Look at these; Rum ball gum balls!" Remus took the tin off him and read the label curiously.

"And what exactly do these _do_?" He asked in an amused voice, having read the package but not fully understood the effect of the sweets.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sirius asked, gleeful at understanding something Remus didn't. beside him, James roared with laughter as he observed a bag of acid-laced gum drops which appeared to be trying to eat through the cheesecloth. "They look like regular gum balls, like, but you chew them and they're actually highly alcoholic rum balls! With just enough alcohol in them to actually get you tipsy, mind you."

"They should make them with something stronger," Remus joked, moving onto the next shelf. Sirius paused, looking from the tin to Remus and back again.

"You're right," he said in an awestruck voice, "they should!"

**dot**

**Hello Happy people!**

**First up, thanks for reading, and if you were one of the six who reviewed my first chapters, thanks for reviewing. I just want to clarify something that popped up in a review- this **_**will**_** be a multi-chaptered story, perhaps with nine or ten chapters, tops, I would say. Secondly, I would love to thank ****RenieandtheMoo**** for pointing out that it is, in fact, Lily and not Lilly.**

**Thanks for that. And so I ask you to review once more. Let's say… once I get to twelve reviews, I'll post the next chapter. Sound fair? **

'**til then,**

**theIRONIST89**


	4. Crescendo and decrescendo

**DISCLAIMER: Nah-uh.**

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_Not yet, I'm not ready, not yet._

Remus Lupin gazed up at the moon, his pale face illuminated by its ghostly glare. The moon was high and full, and Remus supposed that it would be a matter of mere seconds before his transformation would occur. His mind wandered, fleetingly, to his father, who minutes before had locked him tearfully in the basement, and promised that he would be back for him in the morning. What was his father doing now? Would he take the chance to run away, to abandon Remus just as his mother had?

A stabbing pain in his leg diverted Remus from his thoughts, a pain that felt like someone had plunged a rusty dirk in his upper thigh and was twisting it mercilessly. He cried out in pain as he clutched his leg and heard his sternum crack and felt it widen, stretching his skin painfully and threaten to break his tiny body.

_NOT YET! I'M NOT READY!_

Remus fell to the floor, awash with pain and bitter tears as dark hairs sprouted all over his body and his pupils dilated. But the worse was still to come. Sharp claws threatened to break free of their confinement, pushing up against Remus' fingertips as he moaned and groaned in pain, claws ready to cut through the surface at any moment-

"**ARGHHH!"**

The wolf howled at the moon, its transformation now complete.

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Remus awoke in a panic, a cold sweat drenching his brow as he swatted at the air around him. He had dreamt that large muggle alarm clocks- all bearing the time twelve-forty and lethal looking batons- were chasing him around Hogwarts. He rolled over and shook his head in an attempt to rid it of all thoughts of the strange, slightly disturbing dream.

As he turned to face his bedside clock, the clouds outside his window parted and the waning moon illuminated the clock face.

**Twelve forty.**

Remus groaned and pressed his face into his pillow, remembering the time in his life when his nightmares were of banshees and robbers and pirates, and things he knew how to defeat.

**dot**

"Enchanting the suits of armour? You're getting old, boys. Losing some of your edge," the Head Boy, Vincent Broderick peered down his nose at the three boys. "And to sing expletives, of all things. Would've thought that was third year work for you lot. None the less, can you guess what's coming next?"

"Detention?" Remus asked lamely, flicking his wand to quieten a nearby suit of armour that was cursing fluently at Broderick.

Sirius and James turned to look at Remus in disbelief- usually it was _them_ giving authority cheek while Remus stood meekly and penitently. Broderick's eyes narrowed momentarily before he nodded.

"Got it in one, Lupin. And if you would make these things _stop_," he glared down the corridor at a particularly loud suit of armour that was serenading a group of Slytherins, "that would be even better."

"Right-o," James said casually, flicking his wand and silencing the suits of armour at once.

_Well_, Remus thought, _whoever said that being a delinquent was necessarily fun?_

**dot**

"Moore? Ripley?" Sirius gazed, bewildered at the doorway as Claire and another dark-haired Ravenclaw walked in and took their seats for detention behind the three boys.

"Claire? Sarah? What are _you _two doing in here?" Remus asked, turning around to face them. Claire grinned and a shadow of a smile appeared on Sarah's previously annoyed face.

"Well, you know Severus-" Claire began.

"Snivellus, you mean. Go on," James said encouragingly, nodding. Sarah laughed at this and Claire frowned slightly, before continuing.

"Yes, well _Snivellus_, as you say, confornted Sarah, he called her a… a _you-know-what_," Claire said, emphasising the last part. Sirius raised his eyebrows as Remus scoffed and James looked livid.

"He called Lily- I mean, Evans, that too!" He said scandalously.

"Well, the difference is, we actually did something about it," Sarah said, speaking for the first time. James opened his mouth to interject, but Sarah spoke again before he could get a word in, "So I hexed him and his head shrunk to the size of an apple, and then Claire saw what happened and came over to tell _him_ off for calling _me_ a you-know what… and then he spat in her face, so she kneed him in the balls."

The five students laughed uproariously at the mental image of Snape lying on the floor clutching at his groin whilst nursing an abnormally tiny head. They were interrupted, however, as the door to the classroom opened and McGonagall herself swept in, a folder of parchment in her arms.

"You are in _detention_, not out on the courtyard. I would advise you to be quiet at once," she said snappishly, heading to the teacher's desk.

"Aw, but Minnie-" Sirius started, pouting.

"Quiet, Mister Black!" McGonagall scolded as she waved her wand and a piece of chalk began to write up their detention task.

_Back to reality._

**dot**

"Merlin, that was harsh," Sirius said, rubbing his quill arm sourly. James snorted.

"Did you honestly write _all_ the lines?" he asked in disbelief.

"Of course not!" Sirius replied, looking scandalised. "I wrote painstakingly slowly, like you said, so I only ended up doing, about a tenth of the lines."

"What about you, Moony?" James asked. "Moony? Moony!"

Remus blinked. "Sorry, I was just imagining Snape with a minute cranium and a very sore groin. It's a strangely calming image."

"I would think so," Sirius said. "I would gladly add another detention to our record to be responsible for _that_. How many detentions have we had, anyway?"

Sirius, James and Remus paused for a second to ponder this question, until Remus spoke.

"Uh, too many?"

**dot**

"Um, Professor? Can I talk to you for a second?" Remus tentatively placed his hands on the desk as he waited for a response. The professor remained with her back to him as she wrote up the plan for her next lesson on the chalkboard.

"You are, if I am not mistaken, already speaking to me, are you not, Mr Lupin?' the professor asked. Remus bit his lip- he did not particularly like talking to the professor when she was in a snappy mood.

"Very well, what is it you need to talk about?" The professor sighed, turning around to face him in a flurry of billowing cloak and falling paper. She pursed her lips impatiently as she waited for Remus' response.

"Well, professor, I've been thinking about it, and… I think that I'll apply to do N.E.W.T level Runes. If my grades are good enough, that is." Remus said quickly, avoiding the professor's curious gaze.

"Very well. I will put you down on the list. Good day, Mr Lupin."

And she was gone.

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**Tick. **Tock. **Tick. **Tock.

Remus found that when he was occupied with a good book, or even a particularly complex piece of homework, the ticking that occupied his eardrums seemed at its faintest.

It wasn't getting any slower, though. Just a little fainter.

_Merlin, when did I become such a nerd?_

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"Yeah, well, my family's pureblood, you see, so it was a bit of a shock when I was four and healed my grazed knee, but Meredith couldn't stay on the bed at night - she would always roll off and bruise some part of her body or another. They thought that maybe her magic just wouldn't come out, that she wasn't ready yet, you know? But we turned eleven, and at our party, my letter, my Hogwarts letter, it arrived, but Meredith didn't get one."

"Oh," Remus said, for lack of anything else to say. Claire swallowed, averting her gaze.

"So my parents, they wrote to Dumbledore, they wanted to know if there was a mistake… but he said there wasn't, that he was awfully sorry, but Meredith showed no signs of, you know, magic, and she was a-a squib. And my parents took her to Saint Mungos, and they found out that she was."

"Must have been hard for her," Remus said sympathetically.

"I would expect so. When the time came for me to come here, she had to stay behind, and my parents felt bad for her, so they sent her to Strathallan, a muggle school, and she's… she's okay now, I guess."

'So you're parents didn't mind that she was a squib?" Remus asked carefully.

"Of course they _mind_, but they she is their daughter and all. At first they were, naturally, disappointed, but they've accepted it now. They're proud of her- she's really good at arts and music, and so they tell everyone what she is; they don't go around pretending she doesn't exist. They lost a lot of friends that way, mind you. Old, prejudiced families who think they should've hidden her or _put her down_." Claire shook her head angrily.

"You're parents sound like good people," Remus said quietly.

"They are."

**dot**

Remus lay in bed that night, hands behind his head, mulling over all that Claire had told him about her sister. Sometimes he wished that _he_ was a squib, because if he had been a squib or even a muggle, his father would never have insulted Fenrir Greyback, and he would never have become a werewolf.

But then, if he were a muggle, he would never have met James and Sirius; never have made such odd and intriguing friends.

And he wouldn't have met Claire, who, he realised, was the only person who seemed to drown out the sound of his ever present, every crescendo-ing internal clock.

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**Dearest readers,**

**two things. **

**First up, apologies for not having posted this sooner. my internet got cut off and it was basically one thing after another. this is completely irrelevant, but I also found out that my family will be relocating to Sydney, Australia come the new year [ **

**Secondly, thanks to my dear reviewers for reviewing so quickly! Because I will be busy this week and I haven't got the next chapter finished, let's aim for a relatively high amount of reviews til I post the next one, yeah? So…let's say, twenty five reviews. is that a bit ambitious? anyways, twenty five reviews and you get the next chapter. hopefully.**

**I'm also sorry that this chapter is so unbearably short, even though you asked for a longer one, but I don't want to pack the chapters and overload you guys.**

**okey dokes.**

**theIRONIST89.**

**OUT.**


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